Historic background of the Sunni-Shi'a split
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The Sunni-Shi'a split in Islam started with the prophet Muhammad's death in 632, which was followed by a dispute over who was to lead the Muslim community, and how the leader was to be chosen. Although the Prophet Muhammad had said several times, most notably in a famous speech delivered at his last pilgrimage, that Ali was to succeed him as leader of the Muslim community, a gathering of Muslims at Saqifah gave their allegiance to Abu Bakr, as the first caliph after they felt his old age would be a wiser choice than the young Ali. Sunnis also claim that the prophet himself chose Abu Bakr because Abu Bakr had led prayers in the prophet's mosque in the last few days of the prophet's life. Sunni Muslims accept Abu Bakr as a righteous and rightful caliph. Shi'a Muslims believe that the prophet had appointed his son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor and that in following Abu Bakr, the Sunni Muslims had strayed from the true path. For further discussion of this contentious matter, see Succession to Muhammad.
Some thirty years after Muhammad's death the Islamic community plunged into the First Islamic civil war. This civil war led to the emergence of three distinct Islamic groups:
- Sunnis - Sunnis regard the first four caliphs (Abu Bakr, Umar ibn al-Khattab, Uthman, and Ali) as Rightly Guided Caliphs, that is, caliphs who ruled in accordance with the Qur'an and the sunnah, or way of Muhammad, and Sunnis reject the Shia Imams. Sunnis believe that most of the succeeding caliphs failed to live up to these standards. In spite of these failures on the part of the secular leadership, the Sunni clergy (the ulema) counseled believers to submit to the authorities; this was better than constant community strife. The full name of the Sunni branch is Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama'ah.
- Shi'a - Shi'a regard Imam Ali as the first Imam and generally reject the first three caliphs, believing that his was the only "Rightly Guided" caliphate, and that only the Imams of the household and descendants of Muhammad have the right to rule. Shi'as and a handful of Sunni scholars accepted Hasan ibn Ali's claim as caliph, though historical consensus states that Hasan ruled for six months. The extreme Sunni Salafis, do not accept the Shi'a as Muslims and some, such as al Qaeda, even permit their killing [citation needed].
- Khwarij, or Kharijites - The Khwarij were initially loyal to Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth caliph, but turned against him after he accepted arbitration during the First Islamic civil war. Because the Khwarij had a very narrow view of what constitutes kufr (acts that invalidate one's Islam), they quickly split up into sects within themselves, each accusing one another of having fallen into disbelief. Though one branch of the Khwarij survives in Yemen and Oman as the Ibadi denomination of Islam, Khwarij doctrine has been largely rejected and relegated to the history books.
Other divisions have arisen since the civil war of the 7th century. Some groups are now extinct. Of the existing groups, Muslims do not accept members of the Nation of Islam, Ahmadiyya, and Zikri as fellow Muslims.
